Pazuzu + Novacain / Joseph's Well, Leeds

In the late '90s we only knew of three venues in Leeds that put on local bands. We'd already played the Duchess and the Cockpit, which left the mysterious Joseph's Well. We didn't even know where it was, let alone have any idea how we could get a gig. Flatnose John had put on the occasional show at the Well, and he said he'd keep us in mind if he put a bill together in the future, but this didn't look like it would happen any time soon. And then, out of the blue, Mike's Dad called to say that a friend of a friend's band were playing there and they needed a support. Boom.

I seem to remember that we were only asked if we wanted to play the night before. At the time the short notice didn't bother us, we were just chuffed to be asked. We jumped into action the following day, loaded the cars up with our gear... then spent a solid hour blindly driving around Leeds trying to find the place. I have a feeling that we missed soundcheck as we were so late, either way we didn't have long to wait before we were due on. 

Given the fact that it was the middle of the summer holidays, we'd only had 24 hours notice, and we hadn't known where the venue was, I doubt we brought many people. I'm fairly sure it was single figures in fact. But the Pazuzu boys seemed ok about this, and it was nice to play a show where John wasn't constantly on our backs about the size of the crowd.

We played the same set we'd performed at the Cockpit a few weeks earlier, with the addition of our one new tune, the imaginatively named "New Song #1". This was another example of us writing a track as a band. I'd written the chords, Leigh came up with words and a melody and the whole band contributed to the arrangement. Although Mike was chuffed to be playing guitar rather than bass, I think he really wanted to play lead and this song gave him the opportunity. He wheeled out some Satriani-esque guitar melodies, which sounded really nice, but did make the track stand out a fair bit from the rest of our set.

Novacain at Joseph's Well. Left to right: Mike, Winny, Leigh, Me, Suggy. You have GOT TO love Suggy's shades.

Annoyingly, considering the sparse crowd, the sound on stage was the best we'd ever had, and I remember us giving a solid performance. I'm not sure how well it went down with the few members of the audience we didn't know, however... There was a distinctly punk/metal feel to the rest of the bill, and we were neither punk nor metal. 

After we'd played, I had a pint to celebrate. And then another one. And then another. By the time Pazuzu came on, I was pretty hammered. I seem to remember that they played old-school punk. Whatever type of music it was, I took it upon myself to wander around the pub, shouting my mouth off about the fact that they were simply trotting out generic riffs. "What's the point?" I slobbered, much too loudly, to my fellow Novacains, "they're just rehashing a tired old style". Considering that Pazuzu had been nice enough to offer us the gig in the first place, this wasn't the classiest of moves. Mercifully Mike's Dad took me to one side and explained that it might be an idea if I shut up. Mercifully I took his advice, displaying a surprising clarity of thought given my drunken state.

Set list (Novacain)

1. Take It Back
2. M.F.S.
3. New Song #1
4. Slipstream
5. Paracetamol
6. Party Politics
7. Airflow
8. Second Time Around